Were Sacco and Vanzetti guilty?
Learning objective – to be able to assess
the impact of the Red Scare and decide
how much of it was justified.
I can describe some
for the reasons why
Sacco and Vanzetti
case happened .
Grade D
I can explain the
causes and impact of
the
Sacco
and
Vanzetti case.
Grade B
I can explain and assess
whether
Sacco
and
Vanzetti were guilty of
the crime they were
charged with.
Grade A
Starter – what three words would you use
to describe the people in the photograph?
What was the ‘Red Scare’?
America feared the spread of
Communism. They saw what had
happened in Russia and feared that it
could happen in America – especially as
1.5 million Russians had settled in
America since 1900. This spreading fear
was called the ‘Red Scare’.
This fear of Communism spread further
with the bombing of the house of the
Attorney-General, Alexander Palmer, by
a Communist suicide bomber which was
followed by an unidentified bomber
who killed 30 people in New York in
1920.
What was the government’s
reaction to the ‘Red Scare’?
After the bombing of his House,
Attorney-General Palmer ordered
a series of police raids on known
socialists and communists.
Most of those arrested were
foreign born immigrants. This
added fuel to the desire to limit
immigration even further.
Why were anarchists feared in
1920s America?
Anarchists are people who believe
that countries should not have
governments with set laws and
rules. People should have the power
to rule themselves.
Americans felt that immigrants
brought anarchist feelings with
them to America. They had good
rights to fear anarchism as an
anarchist assassinated President
William McKinley in 1901.
The crime
In 1920. a shoe factory in Massachusetts was robbed. The
robbers stole $15,000 and shot dead two people.
Who were Sacco and Vanzetti?
Nick Sacco and Bart Vanzetti were
arrested and charged for the crime a
month later. They were in
possession of fire arms.
Sacco and Vanzetti were poorly
educated, Italian immigrants. They
were known anarchists and spoke
poor English. They had both avoided
military service during the First
World War.
What happened at Sacco and
Vanzetti’s trial?
The trial began in May 1921 and lasted
45 days.
The trial was a farce as both sides
tampered with evidence and the judge
openly racially abused Sacco and
Vanzetti.
Despite flimsy evidence and protesting
their innocence, Sacco and Vanzetti
were found guilty and sentenced to
death.
What was the reaction to the Sacco
and Vanzetti’s verdict?
Whipped up by the Red Scare and
demanding a scapegoat for the
bombings in New York, many
Americans agreed with the verdict.
The reaction abroad was different
and there was an international
campaign to fight for Sacco and
Vanzetti’s release.
What happened to Sacco and
Vanzetti?
Despite the flimsy evidence, the
international
reaction
and
confession from the potential
murderer, Sacco and Vanzetti
were executed in the electric
chair in 1927.
Tasks
Summarise the ‘Red Scare’ in twenty words.
This photograph was
taken in 1923. What
does it tell you about the
public reaction to the
Sacco and Vanzetti case?
Tasks
Design two briefs for a cartoonist who draws cartoons for
an American newspaper. The briefs must be along the
following lines –
 Supporting the guilty verdicts of Sacco and Vanzetti.
 Supporting the public reaction against the Sacco and
Vanzetti verdicts.
Plenary
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